Swedish furniture giant IKEA teases first overseas hotel project

King of the flat-pack furniture IKEA could soon be entering into the hospitality market with the development of its first hotel outside of Sweden.

The Swedish furniture giant, which reported revenues of 36.3 billion euros in 2017, is in talks with developers to convert a brutalist building in Connecticut into its first ‘shop’ ‘n’ flop’ outside of its founding country.

According to The Telegraph, IKEA is bidding to transform the Pirelli Tire Building, which it has owned since 2003.

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Originally designed by the Hungarian-born architect Marcel Breuer, part of the building were bulldozed when IKEA took over, although the main tower was kept when the company opted to build a new store on another plot nearby.

It is thought that if given the go ahead, the new Connecticut hotel could imitate the IKEA Hotell in the town of Älmhult, in southern Sweden, which marked the debut hospitality venture from the company when it opened in 2016.

The Swedish hotel features minimalist interiors decked out with flat-pack furniture, as well as a restaurant serving the brand’s ‘signature’ meatballs.